The objective of this program is to develop a method to print nanoparticles on a substrate with 100 nm resolution. The proposed method uses electrostatic forces to drive the assembly. This program includes three components: 1) the use of patterned surface charges to trap and position nanoparticles; 2) the use of externally biased electrodes to generate electric fields to trap and position nanoparticles; and 3) the study of the interrelation of electrostatic field strength at a substrate surface, thermal energy of the particles, and particle localizability. The mid-term goal of this research is to enable parallel fabrication of nanotechnological devices that use nanoparticles as building blocks. Device examples that can be realized using nanoparticles as device components are single and few electron transistors, quantum-effect-based lasers, photonic bandgap materials, filters, and wave-guides. As a first application the assembly of silicon nanoparticles to fabricate nanoparticle based transistors is proposed. It is difficult to overstate the broader impact of this research, if it proves successful. For example, materials could be created as nanoparticles in the vapor or in solution, where they could be processed using well established methods. The ability to localize particles and small components of arbitrary materials on arbitrary substrates would allow the merging of technologies based on otherwise incompatible materials. Examples of applications include quantum electronic devices (addressed in this proposal), data storage, integrated circuits on plastics or fabrics for wearable intelligence, and merged optical/electronic structures for optical off-chip and cross-chip communication.
The educational objectives of this proposal focus on creating awareness and transmitting excitement about the PI's research as well as exploratory, interdisciplinary research in general. It emphasizes on the importance of providing continuous opportunities for student involvement throughout their academic careers: 1) high school students and teachers will get a first hand impression of research through lab tours and lab experiments; 2) undergraduate students will be addressed through seminars where the PI presents different aspects of the proposed research and by providing the opportunity of direct research involvement through research assistantships, and honors thesis projects; 3) graduate students from different disciplines will benefit through participation in an interdisciplinary lecture in the area of Micro- and Nanotechnology that the PI proposes to develop within this program. Societal Implications: "Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology promise to have major implications for health, wealth, and peace in the upcoming decades. Knowledge in this field is growing worldwide, leading to fundamental scientific advances. In turn, this will lead to dramatic changes in the ways that materials, devices, and systems are understood and create." - after Mihail C. Roco. The proposed research is one element to advance knowledge. It suggests a dramatic change in the way that devices and systems are created.
